Engaging the World in Syria

The Syrian crisis has already drawn in all of the country's neighbors, as well as all of the current permanent members of the Security Council except China. To resolve it, a coalition of countries that are not yet directly involved in the crisis – namely, Germany, India, Japan, Brazil, and Egypt – could be very helpful.

ABU DHABI – A global security crisis of historic proportions is raging in the Middle East, and spreading by the day, as millions of refugees flee Syria and Iraq. The crisis is now affecting not just all of Syria’s immediate neighbors, straining their resources and exacerbating social and ethnic tensions; it now directly involves all of the current permanent members of the Security Council except China. It is time for all would-be permanent members of the United Nations Security Council – namely, Germany, India, Japan, Brazil, and Egypt – to step up.

The desire for a political settlement that could end the Syrian civil war is palpable; but just what that settlement would look like remains open to debate – or to further conflict. Indeed, Russia and the United States are circling each other like boxers before the contest actually begins, supporting different factions and trying to ensure that their allies in the multi-sided conflict are advancing, or at least holding ground.

The need for broad cooperation – and the support of the entire UN Security Council – is apparent. That is why US Secretary of State John Kerry is talking to the Russians, the Saudis, and the Turks to build support for a new round of international talks. And the UN and Arab League’s special envoy to Syria, Staffan de Mistura, has created a set of working groups, chaired by Europeans, to “create a framework for concrete talks between Syria’s government and opposition.”

Anne-Marie Slaughter, a former director of policy planning in the US State Department (2009-2011), is President and CEO of the think tank New America, Professor Emerita of Politics and International Affairs at Princeton University, and the author of Unfinished Business: Women Men Work Family.

So your answer is that Iran and Russia must be good players and pressured by other countries to do what the USA and its allies want!!

Dream on; the USA and its allies are the reason for the catastrophe that is Syria and they need to back off from their regime change agenda. We don't need a fragmented Syria, however much you and your Zionist allies desire that outcome.

There appears to be the printed message and then there appears to be the "real" message to the people who are actually experiencing the effects of political top-dog turmoil. There are certain sovereign individuals that really are not suffering any "threat to the peace", primarily because they are wealthy enough to be "untouchables"(how ironic). As long as that realm is the global leadership, they will simply enjoy their prestige and power at the total expense of over 50% or more of the rest of the population of the world.
In more specific words. Is there any truth to what I have inferred from NBC news that Turkish leadership may be supporting IS, under-the-table of course? And just what support is there for IS in IRAN, SYRIA itself and other nations? IS could not have all their military equipment without big-time support from a lot of moneyed international sources. In fact, just how much has IS been supported inadvertently by US military equipment? There is no real concern about little ants, and cockroaches that can be easily used to play war-games and amuse the idle international rich. IS is well aware of just what they can get away with, and are supported to destroy. The Syrian crisis is only a major threat to the lives of the non consequential collateral damage that the top 1% might view if they might be forced to view popular media. The lives of the global leadership are under no threat whatsoever. The real fact is international global leadership could care less about the remaining 90% of the world's population, or their lifestyles. What threat exists for others is of absolutely no consequence to the global lifestyles.
Only "IF" they were to suffer some threat to their immediate peace and prosperity, would there be any concern. At that time, there would be even more draconian effects for the rest of the population to suffer as a direct result of their personal perceived threats.
"Maintaining or restoring international peace and security" has been no real focus of global leadership for approximately the last 50 years. Syria is just another can for pot shots by the top players on the games field. They're just throwing their dice,targeting a new can, picking up their money from a sort of nasty game field, this time. Remember they're exempt from all laws, and do whatever they like, whenever they like to whomever else in the world. They're having fun, while every one else gets the dirty end of the dice throw.
in Abu Dhabi, you don't have much to worry about. BTW, what is the extent of population working with confiscated passports, in 120 degree weather, 7 days a week? If any should collapse and die, there are millions more available for the whims of their Arab masters.

Anne-Marie Slaughter's idea of "engaging the world" in resolving the Syrian conflict is to mobilise the five "would-be permanent members of the United Nations Security Council – namely, Germany, India, Japan, Brazil, and Egypt." It's true that four of the UNSC's five permanent (P5) members - Britain, France, Russia and the US - are already involved in supporting the warring parties in Syria. China stays out, not only because of geographical distance, but also because of its non-interference policy.
Chad, Chile, Jordan, Lithuania and Nigeria are currently the five non-permanent members, whose term ends in 2015. So Brazil, Egypt, Germany, India and Japan hope to be elected as non-permanent members of the UNSC.
Germany, India, Japan and Brazil are the so-called G4 countries that support each other's bid for permanent membership, and their allies have argued that the UNSC should be expanded to include them. Yet the P5 members - Britain, France, China, Russia and the US - wield a veto over any proposals to alter the UNSC composition. The bid of the G4+1 (Egypt) for permanent membership is therefore not possible without the consent of the P5. China will have a say if it approves of India's and Japan's bid.
Whether Germany, India, Japan, Brazil and Egypt will become "would-be permanent members" of the UNSC or not, it is worth taking them on board to resolve this "global security crisis of historic proportions," as they may be able to exert influence on regional groups that are either directly or indirectly involved in the conflict.
There is a sense of urgency to eradicate ISIS and to end the sufferings, which have led to the deaths of nearly 300,00, the destruction of millions of homes and the influx of migrants to Europe. Foreign ministers from the EU, Russia and the US are joining forces with the UN and Arab League’s special envoy to Syria, Staffan de Mistura to seek a political solution. Yet the two antogonists in the conflict - the Assad regime backed by Iran, the Hezbollah and Russia on the one side, and the Kurds and Sunni rebels backed by the US-led coalition on the other side - have little appetite for diplomacy, as they hope that a military victory would boost their negotiation power.
Anne-Marie Slaughter ought to know that the more players are involved, the more difficult it will be to reach concensus.

I cant help it...Slaughter!!--!!syria!!!.....too fit a name for the subject..:):)(sorry sorry sorry!!:):))
On a more serious note though,can we cut the crap?
US created the myth of the tyrant for assad,and still does not want to recognise the mistake and the attempt to destabilise syria and get a result as they wanted failed.
The only solution (for real) would be to disarm the rebels,and hold elections.
How to do that?
Incentives.Give them money.
In any case,iusnt this how it all started ?
Wasnt the US special operations of CIA creating all the havoc for years?
Yes every player has his own targets,and maybe putin wants whatever.But hypocricy will not help.
So lets start with the basics.
There were no barrel bombs.
There were no chemical attacks.
We all should know that by now.
There was a propaganda to picture assad as a mad dictator(which he might be ,i dont know,but as far as syrian s are concerned-the many i know- he was fine.
They were living a great life,until someone armed islamists and presented them to the world as democracy advocates.
There are no religious (especially islamist) moderates.
Which part of religion you dont understand?
if you are prepared to believe in a god,then you are ready to do anything really.
All it needs is the correct push.The right spark.
Keep people hungry and poor,with no chance for enlightenment(or even access to the ideas of it),in the hope you can keep under your control people and wealth....no it doesnt work.
So the way forward i hear you ask..
Leave syria,let assad put everything in order as it was before,help the country rebuild all that was destroyed ,and redistribute wealth and power according to election results.
A different UN than the one we have today ,should be helping towards such a situation,instead of trying to materialise US vulture policies that only benefit few,and for sure not any american citizen(or any other),except from the few with big fat contracts selling guns or reconstruction.
The mix of religion and politics is a smoke screen.
It all comes down to wealth sharing.
Nothing else matters.
Not for the millions of people who struggle around the world.
Syria is another of the great american created wars,that will too lead to suffering for many,and profits for few.
Assad is not the problem,the Saudis are ...
The family of perverts,who keep a whole population undr a religious dictatorship,a theocracy with no parallel today (except maybe N korea).
Even Iran looks democratic in front of the saudi perverts.
Now ,why US assists these talibanisers for so long,can only be explained by oil thirst,and wealth in the hands of armed mercenaries,paid with oil money....and armed with US weapons(again)....
One thing missing from today's social dialogue is honesty and fairness,justice and impartial/objective judgement...
We are far from it.
too far to even see what it would have been like if we had chosen a different path for our world...
because it is us who choose.
It is the idiot who volunteers to go fight in Iraq because GWB criminal gang tell him to do so to save america!!!
It is down to the grandsons of the slaves ,who fought for their freedom (in the USA) and today ,they go and fight for the profits of the grandsons of the bosses of their fathers.
This is madness.
The black guys who fight ,to protect the interests of the white slave owners sons...I can not swallow that one i m afraid.
But anyway,back to syria,yes it is a world crisis,as it will spread.
My guess is that Putin is not going to let go of assad,and US is in for a long long time supporting the islamists (until they bomb (again) some US target.
The cost of cooperating with Erdogan and Saudi arabia will be high,and it will be beyond expectation.
It will cause dramatic changes in social cohesion in europe,and create a more segregated world,with nationalistic ideals prevailing and creating hell for all of us.
Fascism will rise (in one form or the other),as it already does in several places.
And then it will be too late to stop the confrontations ,all around the western world.
This is a dream for islamists...and USA is only making things easier for this to materialise...in the hope maybe that it will be kept at bay ,atlantic ocean protecting them etc....exactly what Merkel hoped for with turkey...
When ISIS life in syria becomes hard,they will find ways to get into europe.and as soon as they get organised,it will be too late to stop them from putting their mad plans into action.
If we are to stop this,we need to:
1.Stop assisting the islamists.
2.Support legality in syria and
3.press on for democratic elections.
Then it will be up to syrians to decide their fate.and the world should be supporting them in whatever decision they make.
Not according to the interests of some saudi mad rugs or some iranian priests.
But what am i talking about???
Turkey has elections today.....and there is not much hope.
Not unless ,turks ,in bulk vote against the monarch,the madman that rules turkey with a police state and the support of the "democracy lovers"...(yes i know the excuse,we only do it to promote democracy and help turkey .....for sure!!not!)...
As for ISIS danger,it would have been a lot simpler if US had helped wholeheartedly the Kurds.
But in order to protect the relationship with Erdogan,US was ready to sacrifice the kurds and the world's safety ,and allow the islamist shaite to keep fighting...
they even send them weapons.
so what are we talking about again?
Think tanks,and advisors(highly paid ,with tax payers money usually),advise our leaders towards a world with no future and no return .
In all ,a sad sorry picture of a society that could have been......
Regards to all
GS

Could Prof. Slaughter help me out by naming the individual(s) or group she thinks the US would like to see in power in Syria? I'm clear about the decapitation strategy but clueless about who should replace Assad once he's removed and/or killed.

The more nations at a conference table, the less likely anything meaningful will happen.

Should start just by getting the P5 in play. China is smart enough to let the rivalry between America and Russia play out. AMS seems to want to tilt the game by getting what she hopes are pro-American countries into play. But as other commentators have pointed out only America seems to believe that Assad is not part of the conclusion,

THE MORE THE MERRIER ?
A new champion of the UN charter is born: Anne-Marie Slaughter ! Just a few years ago as a State Dept director, Ms. Slaughter was advocating the demise of the UN and its replacement by a Concert of Democracies that could take military action against the likes of Assad whenever their interests required it...

A vocal advocate of bombing Libya in 2011, Ms Slaughter now seems to think that by involving in the Vienna talks ALL the permanent members of the UN Security Council, instead of just the stakeholders in the crisis (US,Russia,Turkey,Saudi Arabia,Iran), this would somehow convince Assad to retire to Sochi under the protection of Vladimir Putin and allow peace to prevail in Syria.

The ideas expressed by Ms Slaughter in this article are, if anything, ludicrous and do not contribute in any way, shape or manner to advancing the cause of peace in Syria. It is still a mystery to me how such specialists acquire influence over US foreign policy-making, but there you have it.

The USA still seems intend on removing Assad. It seems to have learned little from the removal of Sadam Husseis and Muammar Gaddafi, who's countries declined onto and still are in a state of chaos and with far more people killed by the international forces that the two tyrants would ever been able to kill.
It is entirely unclear that the US actually has a plan or even a vision of what Syria might look like after the removal of Assad, and what this might entail for the US and its mates.
One would have thought that the first priority is to exterminate ISIS and let the situation stabelise before even considering removing Assad, particularly with the Russian supporting him.
This situation could well develop into yet another Iraq-like disaster.

Slaughter seems more interested in setting up a talking shop than in finding a solution. The ones talking should be only the ones with real interests and a real capacity to affect the outcome. Not that anyone should expect a solution. Nations and other parties are still trying to figure out whether what they're willing to do will get them any closer to a solution they're willing to accept. That almost certainly means that groups are going to be fighting and talking at the same time, probably for quite a while. The diplomacy will move forward when, but only when, the fighting has narrowed the options.

Without good leadership, you get total anarchy. The world is meant to be led by the 5P…Where is the leadership by the 5P? What the world has been witnessing is a tragedy after another being committed by a Kindergarten.

This submission by AMS sounds like the death knell for United Nations - ominously reminding of the fate of the League of Nations.
Fascinating suggestions on the alternative P-Five as the incumbent P-Five seems to be helplessly resigned to fate.
Am not sure the composition of the New P-Five is the best possibility - the Solar System has Nine.
My preference is P-Nine.
Couldn't agree more that India and Brazil along with Germany and Japan must step up its global footprint and responsibilities - with The Arab League, ASEAN, and The African Union.
The Syrian mess belies imagination - and needs a solution yesterday, not with more bullets.
Peace is always possible - and India must step in as the Permanent Abode of Peace.
Besides, India has historically been linked both to its East as well as its West.
Indians have contributed valiantly - despite persistent pinpricks due our Subcontinental neighbours - to building The Gulf.
Indians now have the opportunity - that whets it's global ambitions - to bring Peace to Arabia, with which Indian linkages are legacy.
The Battle of El-Alamien May not have credited India, but Montgomery without the British Indian Army in 1942 was fish without water.
World Wars One and Two would have an outcome unimaginable, but for the valiant British Indian Army and its Two Million boots on the ground.
The predicament now is fraught with fragility - but our Arabian brothers need Peace that perhaps remains India's copyright.
The nightmare in Syria and its neighbourhood needs to be ended - and if AMS seeks Indian interjection, India needs to step in.
The alternative New United Nations will take time to constitute - but the haemorrhage in Arabia needs to end.
Am not sure how the Indian Government will respond - but Indian assistance in heralding peace under UN command is India's genius.
An opportunity not to be foregone - despite the terrain, the World owes to give Peace and India it's best chance for global responsibilities.

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